


Second Time's The Charm

by ZettaiTaiga (PurinsuTaiga)



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Mild Language, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader Insert, Reader-Insert, Sort Of, gender neutral reader, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurinsuTaiga/pseuds/ZettaiTaiga
Summary: Almost immediately, his words come back to you, a playful, ”Defeat me a second time, and I'll take you on a date,” just over the roar of the crowd and your heart in your ears.“Eh?! Y-You meant that?! I thought you were joking!” Your blush deepened. You truly thought the man was joking before.“The great Raihan is always serious!” He chuckled at the trainer’s reaction, secretly finding their blush cute. “Now hurry up and get changed.Edit: Fixed Chap 1 typos on 11/13
Relationships: Kibana | Raihan/Reader
Comments: 10
Kudos: 173





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... I haven't written a fic in over a decade. Go easy on me, please.
> 
> I already have ideas for a more additional chapters, but only if this one does well.
> 
> Enjoy guys.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost immediately, his words come back to you, a playful, ”Defeat me a second time, and I'll take you on a date,” just over the roar of the crowd and your heart in your ears.
> 
> “Eh?! Y-You meant that?! I thought you were joking!” Your blush deepened. You truly thought the man was joking before.
> 
> “The great Raihan is always serious!” He chuckled at the trainer’s reaction, secretly finding their blush cute. “Now hurry up and get changed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I haven't written a fic in over a decade. Go easy on me, please.
> 
> I already have ideas for a more additional chapters, but only if this one does well.
> 
> Enjoy guys.

“And there you have it folks! Leon is still the undefeated champion!” 

The crowd in the stadium roared as you called back your fainted pokemon; your trusty Dragapult, who really tried its best. In the end, it just couldn’t defeat the champion’s Gigantimax Charizard. On the opposite side of the field, Leon could be seen waving to the crowd for a brief moment before doing his signature Charizard pose, with the crowd following suit. When the man was done, you made your way back to the center of the pitch to meet you and shake hands.

“That was quite the battle, mate!” The champion said as he firmly grasped the trainer’s hand, giving it a good shake. “You should be proud to have made it this far! I know you’re capable of great things, Challenger!” Once the handshake was over, you headed off to the locker room, leaving Leon to celebrate yet another amazing victory as the reigning champion.

Sitting on the bench near your locker, you wiped your face with a towel, letting out a sigh. You weren't sad or upset about your loss in the slightest. You and your team did their best out there, and you were definitely proud to have made it this far. If anything, you were mainly just exhausted. This would probably be the only few moments of peace before being bombarded with press looking for interviews.

Opening your locker, you grabbed your bag with a change of clothes. You heard the sound of the door opening. _Ah, great... the press already caught up to me._ But you were confused when you didn’t hear any noise or multiple pairs of footsteps.

Turning around, the familiar theme of blue, navy and orange filled your vision. It was none other than Raihan, who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and that fanged smirk of his.

“Hey.”

Hey...”

“What’s up? Mad you couldn’t defeat the champion?”

“No, not at all. My team gave it your best shot. I have no regrets.”

“Hm...”

You watched as the tamer of dragons strode over to the bench you were sitting on, only to join you on the opposite side. The man was silent for a moment, his teal eyes looking over at you, causing you to blush slightly.

To say that Raihan was attractive was an understatement; the man was downright gorgeous. Those magnificent eyes, cool and confident demeanor and style. It was no wonder he was so popular on and off the pitch. _Too bad he’d never like someone like me..._

Raihan’s smirk widened. “So you couldn’t beat Leon. But, you did beat me again in the last round. Now how about that dinner date we talked about.”

Almost immediately, his words come back to you, a playful, ”Defeat me a second time, and I'll take you on a date,” just over the roar of the crowd and your heart in your ears. 

“Eh?! Y-You meant that?! I thought you were joking!” Your blush deepened. You truly thought the man was joking before.

“The great Raihan is always serious!” He chuckled at the trainer’s reaction, secretly finding their blush cute. “Now hurry up and get changed. I know a secret way out of here to avoid the press that's waiting for you in the lobby.” 

——-

Raihan escorted you to a hidden away restaurant located in one of the alleys off the Wyndon streets; a place known for its ramen. Once inside, the gym leader requested a booth off in the corner, wanting this to be a nice private dinner. As the two looked over their menus, you were slightly overwhelmed at the selection of ramen bowls to choose from.

“There's so many... Which would you recommend?” You peeked over your menu at the taller man.

“I usually get the tonkatsu, which is very filling after a long day of battles. So that would probably suit you best.” Raihan responded, pointing to it on his menu.

You nodded. “I’ll get that then.”

Flagging down the waitress, the dragon tamer ordered their ramen bowls. His rotomphone flew out of his pocket, notifying him of messages from his social media and a few other gym leaders. He glanced at them quickly, only replying to the leaders for now before telling his rotom to go back into his pocket.

Across the table, you were looking a bit nervous. To think you were actually on a date with THE Raihan right now. You focused your attention on the drink in front of him, eyes following the condensation as it dripped down the side of the glass. Anything was better than staring up into those mesmerizing teal eyes.

“I’m curious...” You took a small breath before continuing, looking up to the man sitting across from you. “Why me?” Raihan blinked in confusion. “What’s so interesting about me? There's plenty of other trainers out there that are worthy of getting to spend this rare moment with you.”

His confused expression changed into a smirk. “You mean a strong trainer who completed the gym challenge, made it through the tournament, and got to stand on the same ground to battle the Champion isn’t worthy enough? Not to mention made it that far with a mostly fire type team with a few disadvantages.” 

There was a small pause, letting you take his words in.

“Should I add in that your surprise Dragapult had me on my toes with excitement in the semi-finals? Lastly, you’re pretty cute too. Need I explain more?” Raihan’s smirk turned sly as the trainer blushed, shaking your head.

“Now, I just have to ask...” Raihan started, shifting the flow of conversation. “Why the favor of fire types? Nothing wrong with them, I just want to know why your team mainly consists of them.”

“Well... I’m from Hoenn. My first pokemon was a little Torchic that my parents got me. They were friends with a professor. I was always so fascinated by its fire moves and abilities, even when it gained its fighting typing as it evolved. There aren’t many fire types in Hoenn, so when me and my older brother moved here to Galar, I just caught lots of fire types that my home region didn’t have...” 

There was a small pause. “Does any of that make sense? S-Sorry if I was rambling...” You shyly looked off to the side, rubbing the back of your neck nervously.

“Oh no, you aren’t rambling. I could listen to you all day, sweetheart.” The man rested his chin in his palm as you talked, listening intently. “Sounds a bit like me. I’ve always been fascinated by dragon types as a kid. But hold on a tick, you have an older brother?”

“Yeah, he just works here in Wyndon. So much that he basically lives here, while I live on my own in Motostoke. It’s not too bad, we still see each other a lot when he’s not busy...” 

The two continued to talk as they waited for their food, taking the time to learn a bit about each other. You told him more about how you acquired your Dragapult. 

\--

You met it as lone Dreepy while out on the Lake of Outrage in the Wild Area. It had been a day where the sun was intense, which was perfect weather while searching for a rare Turtonator. You spent the entire day outside and was eventually successful with the catch of your new ‘mon just before a heavy fog rolled in for the evening. You were glad to have set up your tent earlier in the day because now you could barely see a thing. It had been a long day in the sun, so you were eager to finally lay down and rest.

The evening slowly turned into night. Despite the kinds of pokemon that appeared, it was a quiet night. There was a small noise, but it sounded distant, so you just ignored it. A minute or so goes by and you hear it again, now thinking it's just the wind. The third time, it sounds a few feet away. Cautiously unzipping your tent flap, you peeked out of the opening, fingers resting on one of your pokeballs just in case. Just beyond the fog was a little Dreepy, who met your eyes and came over to your tent. The poor thing looked a tad weak…

Not wanting to just ignore it, you fished a berry from your bag and held it up. Dreepy made a noise of excitement and floated into the tent. It may have been weak, but it ate the berry hungrily. A few berries later, it had regained its strength. As a thank you to the trainer, it graciously nuzzled your hand, which gave a few pats to its head. The thought of sending this little Dreepy back out into you wild after creating a small bond with it didn’t sit well with you. However, you didn’t know too much about raising or training dragon types…

In the end, you ended up catching the pokemon. Or rather, Dreepy willingly went inside of the pokeball on its own. Training it separately from your usual team out in the Wild Area, leveling it up when you had some time to spare outside of completing the gym challenge. By the time you had gathered all eight gym badges, Dreepy was strong enough to evolve to its final evolution, Dragapult. It only made sense for it to take the last spot on your team to take on the Champion Cup, even if it wasn’t a fire type.

\--

As nervous as you had been when you first got to the restaurant, you felt completely comfortable around Raihan now. You enjoyed getting to know each other over your ramen. When dinner was over, Raihan paid the bill; it was his treat for making it so far in the finals. 

Outside the eatery, he asked for a quick pic of you two of them together in front of the building. At first you were quick to decline due to being camera shy. But Raihan explained that he wasn’t going to post it, just wanted to capture the memory of their date. His rotomphone flew from his pocket and waited for you two to settle on your pose. Raihan had his arm around your shoulders, both of them holding up a peace sign.

With their bellies full, the two returned back to the Rose of Rhodelands hotel where everyone who participated in the tournament stayed. The dragon leader dropped you off at your floor level, the both of your rotomphones quickly exchanging numbers before Raihan continued up to his master suite. After a nice relaxing shower, you were glad to get into bed, exhausted from the long day. A quick check of your phone showed a message from Raihan.

**Raihan:** I know you're getting ready for bed, but I just wanted you to know that I had a great time with you tonight. Hope this won’t be just a one time thing...

**You:** Me too! It was nice getting to know you. Maybe we can plan another date soon?

The dragon tamer chuckled at how eager you were.

**Raihan:** I’m down for wherever you want to go. Just pick a place and I’ll be there.

**You:** Just give me a few days to rest. The tournament has worn me out...

He could understand that. Gym challenges and exhibition matches wore him out too.

**Raihan:** No worries, mate. Take all the time you need.

**You:** Alright. I’m heading to bed now. Goodnight.

**Raihan:** Goodnight, sweetheart.

After sending off that last reply, Raihan switched over to his Pokegram. Hitting the new post tab, he was quick to add a photo of the ramen place two had been earlier. Not the photo with both of you in it, but one with just him outside of the place itself, a big toothy grin on his face. Swiping over, he typed out the caption:

**Went on a date tonight! Enjoyed some ramen with even better company. Things aren’t official yet, but I hope they are soon! Think you guys can guess who it is before I reveal them? Look out for future posts because I’ll be dropping hints!**

A few simple hashtags were added. He didn’t need too many; with as many followers as he had, it didn’t matter. He was sure this post would blow up more than others.

And blow up it did.

It's no secret that Raihan was popular. The numbers on his social media accounts were nothing to sneeze at. So when he uploaded his photo with the caption, the amount of likes he instantly got was insane, along with a swarm of comments.

“Omg who???”

“I know that ramen place!”

“Raihan is dating someone?!”

“Raihan! Please tell us who it is!!”

“Please keep us updated!!”

The comments made the young gym leader chuckle. He really did want to tell his followers, but he wanted to play this game with them to see if anyone would actually figure it out.

In the meantime, he’ll let them wonder while he thought of future date ideas.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Usually Raihan would also be out in the Wild Area, training his dragons and testing out new weathering strategies. However, this time, he was planning date ideas. You had messaged him and said that you weren't that good at coming up with ideas for this particular thing, so you left it up to Raihan.
> 
> Just when he’d been about to respond to him with a suggestion, you sent him another message. Kabu had contacted you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, this took a bit longer than expected. I blame AC:NH and P5R for taking up my free time.
> 
> Just a few notes:  
> -There's eventual plot I swear  
> -To make things easier and possibly clear up confusion later, here's the reader's full team:  
> Cinderace, Arcanine, Coalossal, Salazzle, Turtonator, Dragapult
> 
> Again, if this does well, I'll keep posting chapters. Enjoy.

A few days passed since the initial first date. Both you and Raihan had returned to your homes in Motostoke and Hammerlocke respectively. Raihan now had lots of free time now that this year’s gym challenge was over. The gym leaders and those involved were now in the off season, a gracious period of time to themselves without league business.

Challengers who made it to the cup tournament most likely went off to train in the Wild Area to prepare for the next season’s bracket.

Usually Raihan would also be out in the Wild Area, training his dragons and testing out new weathering strategies. However, this time, he was planning date ideas. You had messaged him and said that you weren't that good at coming up with ideas for this particular thing, so you left it up to Raihan.

Just when he’d been about to respond to him with a suggestion, you sent him another message. Kabu had contacted you, saying that if you were unsure of what to do now that the challenge was over, he could work at his gym as a trainer. Job duties involved helping out with the battles, taking care of pokemon, and other miscellaneous tasks. You were free to come by for the day to see if this was something he’d want to do. 

Since you resided in Motostoke, it was just an easy walk to Kabu’s gym from your place. Raihan responded saying he’d be there soon. After getting ready, he called a Corviknight Taxi to fly him to the industrial city. 

His taxi dropped him off outside of the gym entrance, where you and Kabu were waiting for him. After leaving a tip in the pouch around the pokemon’s midsection, the steel raven took off into the skies.

“Morning, Kabu. Morning, sweetheart.” Raihan said, throwing a wink your way before watching the Corviknight disappear into the distance.

Kabu noticed the nickname accompanied by the wink, but just chalked it up to Raihan’s flirty nature. Although, some small part of him knew what was going on.

“Morning.” Kabu and you greeted in unison. There was a glance between the two of you, neither of you expected to say that at the same time.

“How nice of you to join us today, Raihan.” Kabu continued. 

“Oh you know. Got nothing else better to do while we’re in the off season.” The taller man shrugged, shoving his hands inside the pockets of his iconic hoodie. 

“Shall we head inside then?”

The fire gym leader led them through the lobby and straight to the locker room. “Since my team heard that you were joining us today, we found you a spare uniform. We’ll give you a moment to change. Meet me in the mission area when you’re ready.” 

The gym leaders left the locker room and you changed into the uniform. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it would get you through the day.

After storing your regular clothes inside of a locker, you made your way over to where the gym mission took place. You found yourself reminiscing about your challenge here when you spotted the man of fire standing in the center of the grass-like area. As you made your way towards him, Raihan could be seen sitting on the benches just beyond the track that surrounded the area. His long legs were comfortably crossed as he scrolled on his rotomphone.

“I see the uniform doesn’t fit properly.” He chuckled as he took in your attire. “It doesn’t look bad on you. We’ll have a set of tailored ones ready for when you start work. If you take the job, that is.” 

You nodded.

“As you remember, this is where the first part of our gym missions take place. Earning a total of five points while capturing pokemon to move on before facing me.” He held out an arm, gesturing to the indoor grass.

“If you’d like, you can help participate in the battles like the other trainers. You wouldn’t have to battle all time, as the four of you would rotate with each challenger. Also, we’ll give you pokemon to use here at the gym since your personal team is at a much higher level.” Kabu explained. You didn’t weren’t opposed to the idea.

“Or if battling isn’t something you’d want to do, you can help out with the healing of our trainer’s pokemon between challengers.” That task also didn’t seem bad either. “Aside from that, there’s also maintenance work that needs to be done. The area always needs tidying up after battles. Usually a quick fix since the more intense battles take place out on the pitch.”

Kabu allowed you to take in everything he’d explained. In all honesty, the tasks didn’t didn’t seem like they would be too much to handle.

“You don’t have to make a decision just yet. Take some time to think about it. For now, let's go over to the pitch to meet my trainers.” You nodded, following him over to the stadium area of the gym. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Raihan catching up to you from behind. 

Leaning down, he spoke in a hushed voice, “It may not be the dragon uniform, but that one looks good on you.” 

You rolled your eyes, smacking his arm playfully.

Once inside the stadium, you could see a couple of Kabu’s gym trainers battling each other on the field while one was the referee. Taking a few steps toward them, Kabu shouted, “Trainers, gather around!” His trainers quickly stopped the match, calling their pokemon back to their balls before quickly jogging over to their leader.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have a small announcement.” He gestured to you. “I’m sure you all remember this trainer here. They challenged our gym and made it all the way to the semi-finals with their fire type team.”

One of the two female trainers stepped up, a friendly smile on her face.

“Oh yeah, I remember you! You blew the three of us away with just your Growlithe,” she said. You recalled this female trainer’s name being Ella.

For a while, you spent some time with the gym trainers, getting to know them a little better. You thought it would be a nerve racking experience, but they were really nice and welcomed you with open arms.

“Kabu, sir! Would you mind if we have a battle with them?” The male trainer, Darren, called out to his leader.

“Hmm…” Kabu looked between each of his trainers before his gaze settled on you. There was something in his eyes that you couldn’t quite place, but it excited you. “I don’t mind a battle. However, I think their opponent should be me. If that’s alright with you.” 

“Sure, I don’t mind. We didn’t get to have a rematch at the Champion Cup, so now is the perfect time,” you responded.

A short time later, you and Kabu stood on the pitch. Two of his trainers were up in the stands near where Raihan had been sitting, who was eager to see how you squared up against the “Ever-Burning Man of Fire.”

“This will be a one-on-one battle with Dynamax allowed.” The older man said, holding up a single pokeball.

You took out your pokeball of choice as well, nodding.

Off to the side, his second female gym trainer, Chaka, was to oversee the match. In the stands, Raihan had slid his phone back into his pocket.

Seconds later, the battle started.

——

As amusing as it was, it was a sheer coincidence. You and Kabu somehow managed to send out the same pokemon: Arcanine.

In all honesty, you expected him to send out Centiscorch. You had to admit, while it did surprise you, it didn’t throw you off your game one bit. Just like any other battle, you were going all out.

“Use Fire Blast!” You shouted to your Arcanine.

“Dodge and use Extremespeed!” Kabu retaliated.

No matter how fast your Arcanine was, there was no way it would dodge that move. Kabu’s Arcanine barrelled into yours, causing it to stumble backwards a bit but shake it off.

The two of you had been at it for a while, so both parties were nearly at their limit. You were nowhere near done, as you’d been holding out on an ace hidden up your sleeve.

“Use Dig!”

Immediately, your partner buried its way underground.

Across the stadium, Kabu visibly faltered with the use of this new move, his normally calm expression was now gone. He hadn’t seen this move when you challenged him before, nor was it used during the Champion Cup.

Raihan, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all. While your Arcanine hadn’t used Dig on any of his pokemon on either of your previous battles with him, so he figured that it hadn’t known the move back then. But what he did know, is that to keep up with other trainers while having mostly fire types on your team, you had them learn different move types to make up for disadvantages.

Aside from that, Raihan was also drawn to the way you held yourself in battles. If you had an aura, it would be filled with your passion for battling and confidence in your skills. After all, you wouldn’t have made it far enough to challenge Leon if you didn’t have either of those.

Kabu’s Arcanine sniffed along the ground, but it wasn’t fast enough. Before it or Kabu could react, yours erupted from the ground, landing a super effective hit.

However, while your move had the advantage, his Arcanine stood back up, shaking the attack off and gave a gruff bark. It was impressive that it still managed to even keep standing after getting hit by a powerful attack.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be hiding a sneak attack like that. It was quite the surprise. But just because you know an effective move doesn’t mean you’ve won this.”

Holding up his pokeball, he recalled his partner. Knowing where this was going, you recalled yours back as well.

“Go, Dynamax!” The two of you shouted in unison.

Once the Arcanines were released again, they took on their massive Dynamaxed state, dark red clouds swirling over their heads. The air billowed around you and Kabu as the intensity surged in the stadium.

“Max Strike!” Kabu’s Arcanine reared up on its hind legs, then slammed its front paws onto the ground, making it rumble with energy as it made its way over to your side.

“Dodge it!” You yelled, your partner jumping backwards to avoid it. However one of its paws was still connected to the ground as that beam of energy exploded towards the sky. “Now use Max Quake!”

\----

In the end, Kabu managed to take the victory.

Despite the slight advantage you had with your Max Quake, speed was the deciding factor. You had failed to notice that the Max Strike move slowed down your pokemon. It did dodge the attack, but the paw that was still connected to the ground was affected by the move. That later led to it being just a touch too slow to avoid the final attack, Max Steelspike from Kabu’s Arcanine.

It was a tough battle, but you took your loss in stride. One of the female trainers ran out onto the field to heal up your fainted Arcanine, who you made sure to give some nice treats to later for giving it its best shot.

You met Kabu in the middle, where he shook your hand as if it had been an official battle in a full stadium. After thanking him for showing you around the gym and rematch, he went off to dismiss his trainers for the day and then headed off to the locker rooms.

Raihan walked up to you and gave your back a few pats, slightly bummed that you had lost but he knew you gave it your all. He accompanied you back to the locker room and waited for you while you changed.

Just as you finished changing, Kabu came over to you and Raihan. He invited the two of you out to an early dinner with him. You had definitely worked up an appetite and the dragon tamer was down to eat as well. Without any further delay, Kabu led you two to a restaurant that he liked to frequent on his off days.

The three of you chatted over your meals; well, it was mostly the two gym leaders catching up with each other since they never really have time when battling multiple challengers a day. It was a chance to leave you to your thoughts. You hadn’t given Kabu an answer about working at his gym yet. It was Raihan who noticed that you were spacing out and nudged your arm with his own.

“You alright? Fatigue catching up to you?” There was some concern in Raihan’s voice.

“A bit.” You paused for a second, then looked over at Kabu sitting across you. “I’ll take the job at your gym.”

After dinner, which Kabu was kind enough to pay for, you went your separate ways. Well, almost. Raihan insisted that he walk you home. You tried to tell him countless times that it wasn’t that far but you gave in.

On the route home, there was an ice cream stand. It caught Raihan’s eye and he wanted to try some, which ended up with him buying a cone for each of you. By the time the both of you finished the cones, you had arrived at your place of residence.

“I appreciate you coming with me to Kabu’s gym, even though we didn’t get to hang out too much while there.” you said.

“Nah, it’s no problem. It was cool getting to see you face off against the old guy.” He gave one of his toothy grins. “Although the next time we hang out, I would prefer if it’s just the two of us.” 

Cue that smirk of his.

You waited outside with him until his Corviknight Taxi arrived to take him back to Hammerlocke. Giving you a quick parting hug, he climbed into the cab and was on his way when the Corviknight took off.

It’d be some time before reaching his city, so he took out his rotomphone. He’d taken some pictures throughout the day and decided to post one. He also needed to update his curious followers about his mystery date with another hint.

Selecting a photo of him taking a bite of his ice cream cone from earlier, he dropped what would be a couple big hints to helping everyone figure it out.

**While it wasn’t exactly a date, I hung out with my mystery person again today! And I have two hints this time: This person was in this year’s gym challenge. They also specialize in a certain pokemon type. I’m not saying which one, but it’ll help narrow things down! Stay tuned for more!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, a bit of actual plot now.
> 
> Have a slightly longer chapter since it took forever to write this.

Over the course of the next month, you and Raihan continued to hang out every now and then. And after you two hung out, Raihan would update his Pokegram with a new hint for his followers. This one in particular helped quickly narrow things down even further.

**Alright guys, you know how last time I said that they were a monotype trainer? Well one of their pokemon has a secondary dragon typing. I’m still not going to reveal their main type. But I’m sure some of you lot will figure it out!**

That hint may have been a slight lie. While it is true you used mainly fire types, Turtonator did in fact have the Dragon typing he spoke of. The issue was Dragapult, throwing that off balance as a Ghost/Dragon. However, people still knew you for only using fire pokemon for the majority of your time in the previous challenge season. So to many, it wasn’t a big deal.

As the hints kept coming, some of the followers started making guesses on who it could be. A few fans actually guessed correctly, but the dragon tamer never acknowledged if they were right or not.

During that time frame, Kabu also took you under his wing as his mentee. After that battle against him while touring his gym, you asked him how his Arcanine was so good at taking hits against ground type moves.

His response was that he used the same method as he did with the rest of his pokemon. The older man would always train in the galar mines against the water types that lived there.

If you wanted to train up against ground types, then Gastrodon, Barbroach, and Stunfisk were great options. Or if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, training out in the Wild Area against other powerful Pokemon.

By the time the end of the month came around, you and Raihan had become official.

He’d asked you one day when the two of you had been coming back from a walk around the Hammerlocke castle. There were so many rooms and hidden entrances that nobody knew about except for a curious Raihan.

You were waiting for your Corviknight Taxi to take you home for the evening when he just said it.

“So… how about I become your boyfriend now.” Along with a toothy, boyish grin.

The two of you were pretty much inseparable after that. He did make an official announcement on his Pokegram, which was a picture of the two of you together, fully revealing your face along with a photo tag. A few fans commented saying how their suspicions had been right all along, others were way off, but the majority of his fans congratulated Raihan were happy for him.

Your own follower count shot up following that announcement. Facing off against Leon had already garnered you some popularity as one of the strongest trainers in Galar. So after Raihan’s post, some of his fans flocked to your account as well. It wasn’t exactly important to you, but you certainly didn’t mind it.

You two hung out daily, as much as the two of you could before the Gym Challenge started up again. Once that was back in action, it would be at least once a week before you two would have the time to see each other while working at your respective gyms.

The relationship was hitting the three month mark just as the next challenge season started up. Raihan gave you a ticket to his exhibition match with Leon as part of a small anniversary gift. Not just any tickets, but front row VIP seating. Perks of dating a gym leader. Raihan was once again no match for Leon again this year, thus increasing his losing streak. The sting of defeat wasn’t as bad as the previous years; he had you around to help cheer him up afterwards.

After the exhibition match, things got busy. Well, not at first for Kabu’s gym. Trainers were quickly making their way through Milo’s gym, then making their way to Hulbury to get to Nessa. Until a steady stream of trainers made it to Motostoke to face off against Kabu, all of his trainers battled each other as practice.

It wasn’t until the second week that Kabu began to get a few challengers. Not many, just maybe one or two. That was a good thing though; it gave you a few opportunities to get accustomed to your new role. You were honestly nervous but your fellow trainers reassured that you were doing a good job.

A full month after the season started, things picked up dramatically. Challengers began flooding the gym. A good number of them were able to make it through on the first try. On the other hand, there were a lot of rematches too, since Kabu is known to be the first real roadblock for trainers. As a result, things became busy for you, but you didn’t mind it. You’d grown used to the constant stream of daily battles.

Raihan decided to drop by Kabu’s gym one evening. He was in Motostoke for some league business and wanted to see you at work. A staff member let him in so he could bypass the gates to enter the stadium. He could see Kabu and his trainers cleaning up the field below as he entered from one of the fan entrances. The older man spotted the dragon tamer and went up to greet him.

“What brings you here, Raihan?” He said, watching the younger man plop down in one of the stadium seats.

“Had a few league things to take care of. Then decided to come check in on (Y/N).” His teal eyes were watching you clean up some trash around the walls that had fallen onto the field.

“Ah, I should’ve known.” Kabu took a seat beside the other. “They’re doing a good job with the mission challenges and helping heal in between matches.” The praise makes Raihan smile.

There’s a small silence between them for a moment before it’s broken by Kabu.

“So you’re really serious about them, hm? ” Kabu asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Of course I am. We’ve been together for a little more than four months.”

“I know. But you do have a bit of reputation as a player…”

“That’s in the past.” That statement was said rather quickly, but Raihan kept going. “They’re different. I’ve never felt this type of spark before, ya know? I would never hurt them.”

While Raihan’s gaze wasn’t on Kabu, the older man could tell by the serious tone and look on his face that he meant every word that he said. 

“Well, I’m glad that you’ve moved on from your past ways. But I’ll hold you to your words.” The dragon tamer quirked an eyebrow as he looked over at his fellow leader, who only gave him a steely stare. “If you hurt them, I won’t hesitate to incinerate you in a G-Max Centiferno.”

An audible gulp from Raihan. “I-I gotcha mate…”

The topic shifted, talking about how things were going at the fire gym so far, how the dragon gym was still waiting on fast paced newcomers to show up, and other trivial matters. Kabu stood when he noticed that his trainers were done cleaning. Everyone but Darren had disappeared into the locker room, the male trainer waving up at Kabu to get his attention.

“Ah, it looks like I’m being called. Feel free to wait for (Y/N) in the lobby.” Kabu said, heading down to the locker room to give his brief end of the day meeting before dismissing everyone. “Have a good evening, Raihan.”

“Same to you.” Raihan answered.

He headed out of the entrance he came in, walked down the narrow hallway until he was back in the lobby. He stationed himself against a wall adjacent to the locker room door while waiting and checked his social media.The door finally opened ten minutes later.

Darren was first to exit, followed by Chika and Elle chattering to themselves. Lastly was you, suddenly looking surprised when you saw your boyfriend.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Your face lit up as you walked towards him, giving him a hug as he pressed a kiss to the crown of your head.

“I’m here to see you, sweetheart. You know much isn’t happening in Hammerlocke right now.” Sliding your bag from your shoulders, he slid it onto his own and turned towards the gym entrance. “Plus we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

After leaving the gym, the two of you went to your flat; it only being a fifteen minute walk away. Raihan suggested stopping somewhere for dinner, but neither of you had an idea of what you wanted. So you’d decide on the walk home, and then order takeaway.

In the end, pizza was settled on for dinner. Your boyfriend ordered a half and half with your toppings of choice while you were taking a nice shower.

The both of you stuffed your faces with pizza with some random movie put on for background noise. You two caught up, cuddled up, enjoying each other’s company. When there was finally a lull in the conversation, Raihan took out his Switch from a small bag you hadn’t realized he had with him. You grabbed your own and played some co-op together searching for ghosts in a mansion.

It wasn’t until a much needed stretch break that you glanced over at the clock, seeing it read 11:48. Nearly midnight? Yikes, you two hadn’t moved from the couch in nearly three hours. You blame your space heater of a boyfriend for being too cozy to leave.

“Uh, Rai?” Said man still had his eyes glued to the game console.

“Yeah, love?”

“You know it’s almost midnight?”

“Really? Ah, shit.” He picked up his rotomphone from his chest to confirm the time and groaned.

“Even if you packed up now and sprinted to the station, you wouldn’t make the last train. And the taxis already stopped flying too.

“Yeah, I know. I’d go back on Flygon, but he’s not really fond of flying at night…”

The two of you just stared at each other for a moment.

“Well… I guess there’s no harm in you staying the night.” You finally said.

Your brother’s room would’ve made the perfect guest room, if it wasn’t for the fact that he left a huge mess every time he occasionally visited. Clothes were never put in their proper place, semi unpacked boxes littered the floor along with socks you were sure had lost their pair. Was there even a bed under all the random stuff piled onto it? It made you shudder to even wonder what his own flat in Wyndon looked like…

It was already late and you didn’t feel like tackling the mess to attempt to clear off the bed for Raihan. The man had insisted that he’d take the couch, although you doubted he would sleep comfortably since it was made for only two to sit on. You were nowhere nearly as tall as Raihan but even _you_ wouldn’t sleep on that thing for more than a quick nap.

So in the end, you would be sharing your bed.

After pointing him to your bathroom, where he went to change into a tank top and shorts that he'd conveniently brought with him, you waited for him on the bed. The reality was suddenly hitting you that this was the first time you two were actually spending the night together, in the same bed no less. It's not that you were afraid of anything happening, you just weren’t sure if you were ready.

He finally joined you a few minutes later. Your bed wasn’t huge, but you both could stretch out comfortably. Things were quiet until Raihan reached over to the nightstand where he’d placed his phone and held it up so the two of you could see it.

“Yo (Y/N), check out this video I saw earlier. It’s _hilarious_.”

Five minutes later, the two of you are laughing yourselves silly. Raihan’s rotomphone was floating on its own as the next video started playing. Three videos later you’re cuddled up with your head on his chest and one of his arms around you, listening to something about Galar’s most mysterious sightings. Seven videos later and it's approaching two in the morning.

Peeping down, your boyfriend found you fast asleep. He quietly chuckled, commanding the rotom in his phone to turn off the video and go into rest mode for the night. 

Once he was sure that the blankets were pulled up over you two, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

————-

Another two months pass and now you and Raihan have made it to the half year mark.

All of the gyms are packed to the brim with challengers. Trainers of all ages were requesting challenges, along with rematches for those who couldn't claim a victory on their first try. This year seemed to have triple the amount of last year’s batch. You’d overheard Chika, Elle, and Darren talking about how there were somewhere over three hundred trainers participating. You really had your work cut out for you.

Just as you were about to begin the cleanup from another long day of gym duties, Kabu came around the corner.

“I know it’s just about time to end things for the day, but there was a mix up with the scheduling. There’s one more challenger here.”

You mentally sighed. You were tired, more than ready to go home and curl up on a couch and watch the telly. But alas, that would have to wait a bit longer.

Keeping up with the rotation, you were to be in the mission area along with Darren and Chika. Elle was on standby for healing. A buzzer went off overhead, signaling that the challenger was about to enter.

The doors opened, revealing a young girl walking down the stairs. Probably around your age if you had to guess. She was decorated with pink accessories aside from the required jersey. Nobody could miss the bracelets, rings, earrings, socks, and the bow in her hair. You weren’t one to judge; lots of trainers came in with their own personal touches to their outfits.

The female trainer stopped at the center of the area where the referee was standing. He began the introduction and explanation of this gym’s mission. You stood in the grassy area directly behind the referee. While you waited for the referee to finish talking, you felt as if you were being watched.

Breaking your gaze from the far wall adjacent to you, you looked at the trainer. Maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you, but she was looking directly at you. Surely she was just listening to the gentleman explaining the rules, right? Breaking away to look to the wall again for a minute, you brought your eyes back to the trainer.

She was still staring.

‘Ok, whatever.’ You thought. You were already irked about having to stay later for this battle. The way this chick eyed you was rubbing you the wrong way. You just ignored her for now.

Once the man was done talking the mission started. He headed to the side of the area to observe. Meanwhile, the girl sent out her pokemon, an Espeon. Sending out a psychic type wasn’t a bad move.

The trainer first went over the area where Chika was. Instantly a wild Litwick appeared. Espeon was at her side, ready to battle. Chika sent out her Sizzlipede. The girl was quick to throw a Great Ball at the tiny ghost and fire pokemon, but it wasn’t going to be caught so easily, popping out within seconds. Taking the chance, Chika’s Sizzlipede used Wrap on Espeon.

After Espeon’s long struggling to free itself from the wrap, the challenger was quick to wear down both Litwick and Sizzlipede with alternating attacks. The dual fire and bug pokemon went down first, allowing for the weakened Litwick to be easily caught to obtain two of the five points.

Next she went to Darren's area. Somehow, you knew she’d save you for last.

The girl called back her Espeon, which made sense. It was looking a bit tired after that last battle. This time she sent out a Gothita. Another psychic type?

A wild Vulpix appeared. Darren sent out his Rolycoly. Making the first move, the challenger commanded her Gothita to use Psybeam on the Vulpix. The attack landed, causing a good bit of damage. In retaliation, Vulpix used Spite, and aimed it right at Gothita. A super effective hit; the psychic pokemon falling back a bit as it took massive damage from the ghost type move. 

Darren’s Rolycoly used Smack Down on the opposing Vulpix; another super effective strike. This time, instead of alternating attacks, she only attacked Rolycoly, and let it use its strong attacks against Vulpix. After the repeated Smack Down attacks wore down the fire fox, the trainer threw another Great Ball and caught it on the first try.

Four points out of five.

Finally, she walked over to you. Recalling her Gothita, she sent out a Meowstic. She must be another monotype user.

The last encounter was with a Sizzlipede. 

You sent out your Growlithe. Sizzlipede immediately used Flame Wheel. Thankfully it was aimed towards the Meowstic. You commanded your Growlithe to use Flame Wheel on the Meowstic as well. Only one point was needed so you didn’t know if she would try to catch it or fight it until it fainted. Therefore, your plan was to wear her pokemon down before she had a chance to do anything.

When Meowstic finally had a chance to counter attack, it used Psybeam and Suckerpunch on Growlithe. It became apparent she was only attacking your pokemon instead of the wild one after a few turns. Seems like she had the same plan as you. But not only that, you swore she was still holding a burning glare towards you. Meanwhile, the Sizzlipede was hitting Meowstic with Bug Bite and she just ignored the super effective hits to focus on you.

After taking some heavy damage, Growlithe fainted. Turning her attention to the Sizzlipede, it attacked once more with Bug Bite. Meowstic was weak from being slammed with attacks, so it was unable to attempt to dodge. Surprisingly, it withstood the attack and used Payback. The poor Sizzlipede didn’t stand a chance and was knocked out instantly.

Five points.

You gave your fainted Growlithe to Elle, who was quick to work on healing it. All of the gym trainers joined the referee in the center of the mission area, facing the challenger. A quick congrats from the referee and the trainer was sent on her way to face off against Kabu. One last glare was aimed your way as she finally turned to head to the stadium.

As soon as she was out of sight, you let out a huge sigh. Talk about a weird time. You briefly wondered if you should ask your coworkers if that trainer seemed a bit off to them, but quickly dismissed it. Everyone was beginning to start cleaning things up for the night. After grabbing a broom from the nearby supply closet, you began to clean up around the track.

By the time all of the cleaning was done, the match between the trainer and Kabu was finishing up. You’d come into the locker room to place down some fresh towels for Kabu when he’d come back in. The telly on the wall was broadcasting the match. The trainer had just taken down Kabu’s Dynamaxed Centiscorch.

“The battle is over folks! Challenger Daeva has won against Gym Leader Kabu!” The match commentator announced.

Daeva, huh? So that was her name.

You watched as Kabu shook her hand while congratulating her on her victory and handed over the Fire Badge.

“That was the last of today’s matches folks. See you all again tomorrow for more exciting challenges here at the Motostoke Gym!” Was the last thing the commentator said before the broadcast ended.

Kabu came back from the stadium, gathered everyone and thanked them for staying later than usual. He gave his usual brief meeting and dismissed everyone for the evening. Grabbing your stuff from your locker, you exited the gym and made your way home, walking a bit slower than normal. The way that girl, Deava, had been staring at you was still stuck in your mind. 

‘Just what the hell was that about?’ Was all you could keep thinking to yourself.

You weren’t going to worry over it for too much longer. Now that you were finally at your flat, you dropped your bag by the door and went to take a nice, hot shower. With some heated up leftover curry in hand, you were glad to be sitting down and relaxing in front of the TV. Your rotomphone buzzed as you were flipping through the channels. It floated up just in front of your face to show that you had a new message from Raihan.

“Hey, (Y/N). Had an insanely long day at the gym so I’m heading to bed early tonight. Goodnight, love you.”

You smiled to yourself, swiping across the screen to type out your reply. Even if it was just a quick message, you were glad to hear from him.

“Goodnight, love you too.”

You wished you could’ve called him to tell him about your day, but you can just leave that for another day. With your curry finished, you played your switch a little before finally calling it a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You use a Growlithe and Sizzlipede for the gym challenge, given to you to use by Kabu.
> 
> I know that some of the gym trainers had 2 pokemon during the mission but that would have been A LOT to write so I just did one per trainer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the flight over, you figured that attempting to send him another message wouldn’t hurt. Taking your phone from your pocket, you sent him a message asking if he was home. Even if he wasn’t, he’d given you an extra key to his place for you to make yourself at home. It surprised you when the rotom in the phone chirped, alerting you of a new message. What you received was shocking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll ready for this?

“You don’t understand, Raihan! It was so weird!”

It was currently the weekend, and you finally had the time to call Raihan to tell him about what happened to you. Your rotomphone floated in front of you as you talked to him on a video call, Raihan’s doing the same on the other end. It looked like you caught him in the middle of making breakfast.

“You sure you just weren’t imagining things? Raihan inquired, not really sure about what you were telling him as he waved his spatula around. “You said you were already pretty exhausted before that battle even started.”

“I’m positive. I swear she stared at me during most of the mission challenge.” You were absentmindedly rubbing your fingers along the buttons of the Switch in your hands.

“I still think you’re overthinking it, babe.” He said, plating his pancakes next to some bacon.

The way that chick had stared you down was still etched into your brain. “I dunno, Rai. It was kinda creepy...”

“Maybe she was just a fan of yours that didn’t know how to handle seeing you in person.” Soft clanking of dishes could be heard as Raihan set them down on the table before seating himself. “I’ve had fans stare and look at me in strange ways too. When they do, they say that they were nervous to approach me.”

“Eh, maybe...” You weren’t so sure about that.

“Think about it. You’re kinda popular now from last year’s tournament. You’re bound to have a few fans.”

It was true. You did have quite a few fans. Whenever someone spotted you on the streets in Motostoke, you kindly smiled and waved or even shook their hand. Some even asked for a photo, and you took one with them despite being a bit camera shy.

“I guess.” Was all you could respond with. None of this was sitting right with you.

“Just forget about it, love. She’s already beat the gym and probably halfway to Stow-on-side to go up against Allister or Bea.” Raihan had made a very good point.

“Yeah, you’re right.” You sighed, knowing your boyfriend was right. She was long out of your hair now.

“The great Raihan is always right!” Raihan proclaimed, chuckling to himself a bit. “

\--------

A month later, you and Raihan hit seven months.

Hammerlocke stadium was beginning to have challengers trickle in. It was always those hot shot teenagers and overconfident young adults who were flying through the gyms.

Very few managed to make it through the mission and Raihan on the first try, earning all eight of their badges. Some choked on the surprise of double battles and lost to one of the gym trainers. Others were too cocky after finishing the vault mission and lost to Raihan in the stadium. There were a lot of rematches scheduled when that happened.

Raihan was exiting the gym after a long day. He’d just finished up a long phone call to the league headquarters. The lights in the gym had begun flickering earlier in the day. Every now and then it would happen again, until finally the power went out completely. Thankfully, the backup power kicked in a few minutes later. He wasn’t sure if there was an issue in the gym itself, or with the energy plant down below. As a result, the gym was going to be closed the next day for an inspection of both areas.

His trainers and the other staff were long gone, so he was in charge of locking up and raising the drawbridge just outside the gym. Punching in a code on a nearby panel, he watched the bridge raise up until it stopped before turning around to head home. It wasn’t too dark outside just yet, but he noticed a figure leaning against the dark side of the Pokemon Center as he was about to turn the corner. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young girl. She looked awfully familiar…

She stepped out into the light.

“It’s you! Challenger Daeva.” Raihan had recognized her from the gym battles that were broadcast on TV. He also remembers her from his Pokegram; she was one of the many fans that followed him.

“Oh, Raihan!” She turned to him and gave him a sweet smile.

“Weren’t you just in Spikemuth? I saw your battle with Piers. You would’ve had him if it wasn’t for that Obstagoon of his.” The dragon tamer returned a toothy grin her way.

“Yeah, but I’m heading to the Wild Area in the morning. Train up for a few days and then ask for a rematch.” 

“There ya go! Good to see you aren’t going to give up so easily. Lots of trainers do in the last few gyms.”

“Hehe, yeah…” Daeva rubbed the back of her neck, looking away to the sky above them. 

As if to quickly change the subject, she tossed out her Oranguru. The orangutan pokemon looked up at Raihan, giving him a polite greeting nod. “This guy here just needs to level up a bit.”

Oranguru just gave a little shrug.

“I gotcha. You also have quite the type disadvantage so maybe teaching him some super effective moves will help you out.” He probably shouldn’t be saying that to someone who would be facing him later, but he did often give advice to trainers.

“I plan to! In fact, there’s one in particular I have in mind.”

“Oh really? What is it?”

There wasn’t an answer from Daeva, she just looked over at Oranguru and nodded. The grassy fan in it’s hand began to glow. Just before Raihan could ask what was going on, he suddenly stiffened. Arms falling to his sides, his eyes no longer bright, but dull and empty. Waving a hand in front of his face and getting no response from the gym leader, Daeva smirked to herself. Raihan was under the control of Oranguru’s Psychic.

“Now, use Instruct.”

——

The next day at Kabu’s gym was insanely slow. The first couple of hours went by pretty fast because of the challenger waiting for a rematch. After that there was some down time until the next challenger showed up. That kid did so well with the mission but failed to make it past Kabu, so a rematch was scheduled for the next day. 

When it was around lunch time, Kabu checked on his gym trainers who were trying to keep themselves busy. Seeing how his gym was beginning to slow down with challengers and there was nothing else scheduled, he decided to give them a break. He gathered them up in their usual briefing area.

“Because it’s a slow day, and we don’t have anything else on the agenda, I’m letting everyone go home early.” Kabu explained.

Everyone had a look of shock on their faces but it soon turned into ecstatic smiles.

A chorus of “Thank you, sir!” echoed throughout the locker room. The older man went to further explain that they didn’t have to worry about cleaning up. Some maintenance guys were coming and they were going to be making a mess while they worked anyway.

Everyone went to their lockers, changed and packed up their things. You overheard Chika and Ella mention going to check out a new item at a nearby cafe. They invited you and Darren, but you both declined. Darren was off to run some errands before going home to relax, while you already had plans.

You said your goodbyes to them as they left you in the locker room. Checking your phone, you saw that you still had no messages from Raihan. The last time he replied was late yesterday evening, saying that his gym would be closed for the day because of electrical issues. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, knowing he was a busy guy with league responsibilities.

It was still odd though, you’d sent him quite a few messages, wanting to make sure he was okay. Something wasn’t sitting right with you, but you pushed it to the back of your mind. Pushing your locker closed, you saw Kabu come up behind you.

“I assume you’re off to Hammerlocke? I heard Raihan’s gym was closed today.” 

“Ha, you know me too well.” You chuckled. “Going to surprise him on his day off.”

It was the older man’s turn to chuckle. “I see. Have fun with that. Be safe on the way there.”

“I will!”

And with that, you were off to the historic city. Luckily a Corviknight Taxi had just landed in front of the gym to drop off its passengers. You called out to the Cabbie to let him know you were hitching a ride. After buckling up in the carriage, the Corviknight took flight to Hammerlocke.

On the flight over, you figured that attempting to send him another message wouldn’t hurt. Taking your phone from your pocket, you sent him a message asking if he was home. Even if he wasn’t, he’d given you an extra key to his place for you to make yourself at home. It surprised you when the rotom in the phone chirped, alerting you of a new message. What you received was shocking.

It was a picture of Raihan laying in bed, with his arms around that Daeva girl.

Thinking for a second that your eyes were playing tricks on you, you backed out of the messaging app, waiting a moment before opening it back up. The same pic was still there. Both of them huddled up in bed together, the cheesiest smiles on their faces.

What was this?

You didn’t realize how zoned out you were until the Cabbie was knocking on the window, the carriage now on the ground outside of the train station. You shakily got out, paid the man and his pokemon and slowly began the walk to Raihan’s place.

Surely what you saw wasn’t real, right? Your mind was a mess during the walk to Raihan’s flat. Thoughts rolling around trying to figure out what you’d seen. Before you knew it, you had arrived at his front door. There was some hesitation, but you lifted your arm and knocked. 

The door flew open, revealing the same girl who’d stared you down during Kabu’s gym mission, Daeva.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I’m going to make this clear.” She took a step out, standing in the doorway while holding it open with her arm. “Raihan. Doesn't. Want. You. You were nothing but a thorn in his side and a nuisance.”

“Babe, come back to bed already.” Raihan’s voice called out from further in the house. Your heart sunk.

“Hear that? He’s calling for me. Now get lost.” You didn’t miss that smug smirk on her face before the door was shut promptly in your face. All you could do was stare wide eyed at the wooden door while your brain tried to catch up to the event that had transpired.

————

Kabu turned the key, hearing the click of the lock on the glass doors. Even though he’d sent his trainers home early, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any paperwork to be done on his end. Stuffing the key into his pocket, he began the walk to his nearby home.

As he walked across the bridge that led to his residence, he noticed a person sitting on one of the benches. Upon walking closer, he realized it was you.

“(Y/N)? I thought you went to Hammerlocke?” Kabu said, coming to a stop behind the bench.

This man was not ready when you turned to face him.

The red puffy eyes were what got him first. Next was your tear stained cheeks. Then finally the way you bit your lip to still your quivering mouth. There was a small dampness to your shirt where the tears had been falling that could be seen with the help of the streetlight.

Every alarm bell in Kabu’s head went off.

“H-Hey, what happened? Are you hurt? What’s wrong?” The older man began rambling off with questions, concern evident in his voice. You opened your mouth to answer, but all that came out was a broken sob accompanied by tears threatening to spill once more.

The sun had nearly set and Kabu had no intention of leaving you there in the state you were in. With a bit of coaxing, he got you to stand up and follow him to his own home. Sure, he could’ve taken you to yours, but he’d felt better if you were with someone for the time being. He was going to get to the bottom of why you were so broken down.

It was a quiet walk, only a few sniffles from you every now and then. Once he got you to his home, he sat you down on his couch. Before joining you, Kabu grabbed a bottle of water and some tissues. Gently pushing the water bottle in your hand, he was relieved when you opened it and took a few sips.

“Now… would you mind telling me what happened?”

You looked over at your mentor, biting your trembling bottom lip to keep yourself together. His steely eyes were soft, looking at you with a great deal of worry. Talking was out of the question for now. But what better way to explain why you were a wreck, was to show him.

Tapping on the messaging icon, then Raihan’s thread, you handed him the phone.

Kabu’s eyes widened momentarily, becoming deadly silent and unmoving. He was trying his best not to crush your phone that was showing him the offending picture. Thankfully, the screen did eventually time out and fade to black. While handing your phone back he saw tears flowing down your face. Finding your voice, you fully explained everything that had happened on the way over to Hammerlocke and at Raihan's doorstep.

Right now, Kabu wanted nothing more than to sink his fist into Raihan’s toothy mouth. And then order Centiscorch to flame him up.

The man was beyond livid at his fellow gym leader. Part of him didn’t want to believe any of this was true, but the other had an inkling that Raihan would slip back into his ways. Kabu was upset that the other man lied about being serious about you. Worst of all, he’d broken his dear mentee’s heart.

It took a few deep breaths for the burning man of fire to calm himself. Although Kabu was furious, he needed to focus on you for the time being. The tissue box was placed on your lap and you took a few to wipe your face. He said that you were welcome to stay at his home for the night, as he had a guest room that was rarely used. Judging by the bag you’d been carrying, it looked like you were ready to spend a night away from home anyway. 

Kabu figured that it was best if you try to eat something, so he went over to his kitchen to check his fridge. There were quite a few different curry ingredients stocked up. While he got started with making the curry, he convinced you to take a nice shower in the bathroom. Perhaps it would help you feel a little better.

Once you were out, he said the curry would be done soon and to relax on the couch until it was done. While idly stirring the curry to make sure it didn’t burn, he glanced over at you every now and then. You were just sitting there, blankly staring at the telly. It hurt Kabu to see you like that, his anger for Raihan bubbling up once more.

The rest of the night went by rather slowly, at least for the older man. It took some coaxing to get you to eat dinner; dejectedly saying you weren’t hungry despite your growling stomach. A while after dinner, you quietly excused yourself to head to bed early. Kabu nodded, wishing you a good night while cleaning up the dishes from dinner.

When Kabu finally went to bed for the night, he passed by the guest room while heading to his own. It was faint, but he could clearly hear the sounds of crying. It absolutely broke his heart.

\-------

When the next morning rolled around, you were feeling better. Nowhere near one hundred percent, but just enough to function.

Kabu found you on his couch when he woke up, already dressed and bag sitting in your lap while you played a cafe game on your phone. You told him that you were going back to your own home and thanked him for looking after you. He asked if you were going to be ok, to which you replied that you were. Leading you to the front door, Kabu saw you off as you walked in the direction of your house. He sighed, hoping you were really going to be alright.

The fire gym leader got dressed, putting on some nice casual clothes. Every saturday he gathered with Nessa and Milo for breakfast. It was something they got together once for and just kept it going. They were often in close contact anyway being the first three gym leaders, so this was a nice way to relax and chat after a long week of battles.

Kabu was always first to arrive at the restaurant they frequented since it was in Motostoke. He usually just sat and read the local newspaper with a cup of coffee while waiting for the other two to arrive. As he read through the paper today, he found himself unable to truly focus on the words.

“Mornin’, Kabu.” Milo greeted, Nessa walking right behind him waving.

“Good morning, you two. On time as usual.” Kabu smiled at them, folding up the newspaper.

Now that all three of them were there, Kabu flagged down the waitress so they could order their usual breakfast. They chatted about the week’s challengers, talking about which ones they were going to keep an eye on due to their talent. Besides work related things, they also talked about other things. Nessa’s modeling work was going to be featured in another magazine and Milo gushed over how well his crops were doing this season.

The conversation kept flowing after the food arrived. Nessa was explaining how she had to rework her schedule full of challengers due to an issue during the gym mission. One of the valves controlling the huge pipes of water didn’t turn off after being activated, which meant the challenger couldn’t pass through to the next part. While she was explaining how long it took to get it fixed, she noticed that Kabu seemed to be in his own world.

“You alright, Kabu?” She asked, eyeing the older man. The model had been watching him; he was eating like normal but seemed to stare down at his plate in deep thought.

“Hm? Ah, yes I’m fine.” Kabu answered, looking up at the water gym leader.

“Are you sure?” Milo inquired through a mouthful of fluffy pancakes. “We know you don’t talk much but you’ve been extra quiet today.”

Nessa nodded in agreement. “Milo’s right. Something on your mind?”

Kabu sighed, a bit angry with himself for causing the younger gym leaders to worry about him. “Well, my mentee is going through some trouble. I’m just concerned about them.”

“You mean (Y/N)? Are they having a tough time at the gym?” Milo asked.

The older man shook his head. “No, they’re doing fine at the gym. It’s a more… personal reason.”

Nessa set the glass of orange juice she was sipping back down on the table, crossing her arms. “Let me guess… It has something to do with Raihan?”

Kabu’s head flew up in shock at how perceptive Nessa was. “How did you know?”

“As much as that guy posts on social media, he hasn’t been active the past couple of days. Usually he informs his fans about taking a break but there wasn’t any warning this time.”

“Maybe it's a spur of the moment thing?” The farmer interjected, forking the last bite of his food.

“Highly unlikely.” Nessa said.

Staring down at the coffee mug in his hands, Kabu let out a long sigh. “Nessa is right.”

Kabu was not one to gossip or tell other people’s personal business. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to tell these two, plus Nessa already had her suspicions that something was up. He found himself explaining the prior day’s events to the young leaders sitting in front of him.

“That jerk!” Nessa slammed her hand down on the table, scaring poor Milo. Said farmer was quiet, but the look of disappointment on his face spoke volumes.

Everything was beginning to make sense; at least to Nessa. She pulled out her phone, typing a message to the group chat all of the gym leaders and Leon were in, with the exception of Marnie and Bede. Both Leon and Piers had been trying to get in touch with Raihan and recently asked the group if anyone had heard from him. Just before sending the message, she temporarily removed Raihan from the group.

The trio had long finished their breakfast, staying around to chat a little while longer. Kabu was much more active in the conversation this time around. When it came time for the bill, Milo and Nessa split it, covering Kabu’s meal. He figured it was their way of giving him a bit of a break.

Kabu walked back home, wondering if you were doing ok. He’d be sure to give you a call once he returned back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it's clear that the other gym leaders would know who you are. I mean, you're dating a gym leader, working for another, and currently one of the strongest trainers in Galar... kind of impossible for them not to know you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the…”
> 
> Raihan was utterly shocked and confused at what he was seeing. Whatever aches and pains he was feeling suddenly disappeared as he sobered up. When did he…? Why did he…? What…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So writer’s block kind of kicked my butt here. So forgive me if its not the greatest chapter.

Raihan cracked open his eyes, groaning at the offending light shining in through his curtains.

His head was pounding while his body felt like he’d been hit by a herd of Tauros. His mind was fuzzy, like he had taken too long of a nap. The blinding light wasn’t doing anything for his aching head. So the first thing on his hazy mind was to take care of that.

Slowly removing himself from bed, Raihan trudged to the kitchen, wincing as the movement made his headache even worse. He retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge. Then rummaged through a nearby cabinet, glad when he finally did find a bottle of extra strength painkillers.

Taking both the water and pills back to his room, he sat down on the edge of the bed. Raihan threw the pills into his mouth, then drained the entire bottle of water behind them. He just needed a second to lay back down…

He flopped back on the bed, one of his hands hitting his phone in the process. Oh right, he should check that. Bringing the phone closer to his face, he saw the usual mass of social media notifications. However, some other things struck him as odd; The date and amount of texts from friends he had.

Wait. It was saturday? It was supposed to be friday. His gym was closed for inspection so he had the day off...

No matter how much he thought it was supposed to be friday, his phone told him it was saturday. Did he get drunk on his day off and is that the reason he can’t remember anything? No, the throbbing in his skull didn’t feel like it was from a hangover.

Looking at the lockscreen, there was a good mix of missed calls and messages. Why were there so many texts from different people? Leon was at the top, along with Piers, multiple missed calls from both of them. They were all from yesterday too. Well, he'd better start going through to see what he missed…

**_12 missed calls from Leon_ **

Definitely not a good start with that.

**Leon:** What the fuck mate?

If Leon was cursing, it meant he was clearly pissed about something.

**_5 missed calls from Piers_ **

**Piers:** Dug yourself into a real mess with this one.

**Nessa:** I didn’t think you would stoop this low.

**Kabu:** Next time I see you, you’ll be reduced to dragon ashes.

Oh, shit. Now Kabu was on his case.

**Milo:** How could you?

**Melony:** Good luck getting out of this one, sweetie.

**Bea:** Saving a special drop kick just for you.

**Gordie:** That wasn’t right man…

**Allister:** I’m gonna haunt you.

Ok, just what the heck was going on? What did he do to piss everyone off and have them come at his throat?

The last and oldest notification he had was from you. Now that was odd. If anything you should be at the top of this list.

Tapping on your name, it took him to your messages. Starting with the earliest, after his last reply about the gym being closed, you’d responded asking him if it was cool if you stayed over at his house. Then he saw a few more messages, all asking if he was ok. His thumb scrolled upwards, revealing the last message that came from him.

The picture of him and Daeva.

“What the…”

Raihan was utterly shocked and confused at what he was seeing. Whatever aches and pains he was feeling suddenly disappeared as he sobered up. When did he…? Why did he…? What…?

It made sense where all those angry messages were coming from. Especially Kabu’s. But why is it that he couldn’t remember anything? Surely he would remember doing something like that. Looking at the phone screen again, it told him it was well past noon. For now he would try calling Leon back. Rubbing his face, he told his rotomphone to call Leon for him.

He answered on the second ring.

“Leon-“

“What the hell is wrong with you Raihan?!” Leon interrupted loudly. Poor Raihan had to lean away from the floating phone to save his ears.

“L-Listen, Lee. I don’t know what happened…” Raihan tried to explain.

“Oh don’t give me those bloody lies. You clearly knew what you were doing if you went and slept with someone else.” Clearly Leon was having none of it.

“No, seriously man. I don’t know what’s going on right now.”

“I honestly find that very hard to believe.” Leon muttered.

“Just give me a chance to explain...” Raihan pleaded.

Leon sighed. “You got one chance, mate.”

———

“Bzzt! You’re getting a phone call!” Your rotomphone announced, floating over to where you were standing.

You turned your head to look at the screen. Kabu was calling you. Tapping the screen, you answered his call.

“Hey, Kabu.” You answered.

“Hello, (Y/N). I was just calling to see how you were doing.” You could easily hear the concern in his voice.

“Oh, I’m ok.” You told him, or at least that's what you wanted him to think.

There was a hum from Kabu. “Well, I’m on my way back from the cafe and have an extra bag of pastries. Would you like them?”

“Sure, I’ll take them off your hands.” You’d been having a bit of craving for some sweets.

“Alright. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

After hanging up the phone, you took a look at the room you were in.

When you came home, instead of throwing yourself into bed or the couch and crying again, you decided to do something to distract your mind. Starting with the living room, cleaning off the coffee table, putting away random knick knacks, and vacuuming. You eventually moved on to the kitchen, bathroom and your bedroom before finally tackling the current situation: your brother’s room.

The easiest thing to start with was the bed. Sorting out everything that was on it, which was mostly clothing. Items that weren’t clothing went back into half unpacked boxes or put into their proper place. When Kabu had called, you were just about done hanging up the stack of clothes to put into the spacious closet. By the time you’d finished, there was a knock at the door.

As expected, Kabu was at the door, a paper bag in his arms.

“Didn’t know you had such a sweet tooth, bringing all of those.” You raised your eyebrow at the decent sized paper bag.

“I don’t.” He chuckled. “The cafe owner always gives me extra to bring along to the gym.”

You invited your mentor in, telling him to make himself at home. He made his way over to the couch, placing the bag of sweets on the coffee table. You headed off to the kitchen to make some tea to enjoy with the treats. When the tea was done, you brought over a cup for both you, along with some small plates and napkins.

“So how are you feeling?” The older man asked before taking a sip.

“I’m okay. Not completely fine, but okay enough just to function.” You admitted.

You told him about how you threw yourself into cleaning the house after arriving home. He nodded in understanding, knowing that you were just trying to distract your mind. He explained that if you needed to, you could take some time off away from the gym. Challengers were coming by less frequently anyway. You thanked him, saying that you would take him up on that offer.

The two of you talked for a while longer, when all of a sudden there was another knock at the door. You weren’t expecting another guest. You opened the door, pretty sure that all the color drained from your face. It was none other than Raihan standing at your doorway

“Uh, hey there.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

You didn’t realize how quick you’d backed away from him until the back of your legs hit the coffee table. Raihan definitely didn’t miss the way your eyes threatened to well up with tears. It made his heart break. Kabu immediately stood up, coming around to stand in front of you.

“What are you doing here?” Kabu spoke in a low voice. Without even seeing his face, you knew he was glaring at the other gym leader.

“I... just want to talk.” Raihan said.

“Talk? What could you possibly say that will undo the hurt you’ve caused (Y/N)?” Kabu interjected.

Raihan sighed, he couldn't argue with that. “Listen, I know I'm probably the last person you want to talk-”

“You’re exactly right. Now do us both a favor and please leave.” Kabu was walking over to the door, ready to slam it in Raihan’s face.

“W-Wait!” The dragon tamer stepped forward, holding the door open with his foot. “Please! Just hear me out!”

Kabu looked back at you, waiting for your decision on letting the young man into your apartment.

“...Let’s hear what he has to say.”

———

The three of you sat down and listened to Raihan’s story as he began to talk.

He started off explaining how he felt when he woke up this morning. The weird feeling in his head and his hazy memory. Moving onto when he checked his phone and saw all of the different messages and missed calls from everyone. Upon checking his messages and the text thread he had with you, it revealed the picture of him and Daeva. He couldn’t remember anything about the moment at all, let alone anything from after he locked up the gym the day before.

He further went to explain about his chat with Leon before arriving there. After telling this same story to Leon, they both agreed that something was weird about the whole situation. You also had to admit that there was also something amiss about his story. But it still didn’t change the fact that Raihan did cheat. The dragon trainer could see the hurt in your eyes as he tried to explain things.

“I know all of this sounds mad, but trust me when I say I really have no idea how any of this happened.” Raihan said.

Kabu had been sitting quietly beside you the entire time. On the inside he was resisting the urge to punch Raihan in the face, but he was hearing the young man out. He also had to admit that something was off about this entire situation.

“You’ve explained what happened starting from this morning and you mentioned having no recollection of yesterday. What about the day before? The day that you had the electrical issues at the gym.” Kabu asked.

“The other day? Uh, let’s see...” Raihan squinted his eyes in thought. “The gym ran like normal after the backup power kicked in. My trainers cleaned up and went home for the day. I stayed behind and did some paperwork, then finally decided to go home and locked up the gym.”

“Anything strange happened on your way home?” The older man inquired.

“Well I remember raising the drawbridge and going straight-”

Raihan’s eyes suddenly got wide.

“It was right after that! That’s when I ran into her!”

“Daeva?” You spat in a small voice, her name tasting bitter on your tongue.

“Yeah! She was standing against the Pokemon Center by the gym. We talked about how she lost to Piers and her type disadvantage. I think she said something about teaching her pokemon a new move…”

There was a pause from Raihan. He squinted his eyes even more, really concentrating for a minute.

“That’s it. I don’t remember anything else from that day.”

It was silent for a minute before Kabu spoke up.

“I believe it’s safe to say that Daeva clearly has something to do with this. She must be the key reason behind your lack of memory and deception.” Kabu concluded, folding his arms.

You nodded in agreement. “But how do we get her to fess up? It’s not like she’s just going to tell us how or why she did this.” You asked.

Another moment of silence before a lightbulb went off in the dragon tamer’s head.

“I may or may not have an idea.” Raihan said.

“What do you have in mind?” You raised a brow at him.

Raihan just gave his signature smirk.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let's be honest," she started, glancing up at him. "You're not just a strong gym leader. You're also one of Galar’s top Bachelor's."
> 
> Raihan already knew that. Besides his strong battling skills and his huge social media presence, it was no surprise that he was also extremely attractive. Lots of women and men all over Galar found him stunning.
> 
> "Ok, and that means what exactly?" Raihan knew where this subject was going, but he just egged her on to make sure.
> 
> "It means that there isn't anyone who doesn't want to have a chance with you. Especially in bed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter is long overdue. Life happened, then I lost motivation halfway through. So I’m sure this chapter isn’t as great as the others.
> 
> As always, enjoy.

It was a few days later.

Raihan had asked Daeva if she wanted to meet up.

Of course he knew that she wanted to. Part of him wanted her to think that he was still under her little spell. Make her think that he hadn't had enough of her, but that was hardly the case.

He asked her if they could meet up at one of the café's near Hammerlocke gym.

Ever the gentleman, Raihan let the girl order whatever she liked, saying that he would pay for it. They settled down in a booth off in the corner. It was the middle of the day, but there weren't too many other patrons in the café.

"So how have you been? I missed you..." Raihan inwardly cringed. If he was going to make her spill the beans, he had to at least put on a little act first.

"I've been good. And I've missed you too." She moved in to hug him, the dragon tamer making a disgusted facial expression behind her back. It felt so wrong to be all flirty like this...

Raihan continued to chat her up for a while. Asking her about her training, still being all cutesy. He nodded as he pretended to listen to her talk. Occasionally he looked down at his phone, switching back and forth between his social media. He was actually checking them, however, he was mainly just checking to make sure that a certain application was still open in the background.

His rotomphone was secretly recording their entire conversation.

"All right, cut the crap." Raihan interjected.

"Wha...?" Daeva looked up at him confused.

"Listen, I know what you did."

Daeva caught the look in Raihan's eyes. His teal orbs almost looked as if they were glowing. Right then and there, she knew the jig was up.

"Alright," Daeva sighed, taking a sip of her drink. "You caught me."

Raihan leaned back and folded his arms. The man was rather surprised on the inside; that went smoother than he originally thought it would.

"So, what was the motive? What was the reason for even doing this in the first place?"

The girl rested her chin in her hand, swirling the drink in the other.

"Let's be honest," she started, glancing up at him. "You're not just a strong gym leader. You're also one of Galar’s top Bachelor's."

Raihan already knew that. Besides his strong battling skills and his huge social media presence, it was no surprise that he was also extremely attractive. Lots of women and men all over Galar found him stunning.

"Ok, and that means what exactly?" Raihan knew where this subject was going, but he just egged her on to make sure.

"It means that there isn't anyone who doesn't want to have a chance with you. Especially in bed."

The dragon tamer had a feeling this was what she was going to say. Lots of people expressed how much they wanted him. More than half the comments on his social media were just fans thirsting for him. At first it was a boost to his ego. Nowadays he found it annoying, but he learned to ignore it over time.

"So you only wanted to sleep with me a bit?" Raihan ran a hand through his dreadlocks, lightly pulling at them in an attempt to relieve some of his anger.

"Pretty much." There was a small smirk on Daeva's face. Partially from her own answer to the male in front of her, the rest from seeing the frustration brewing in his eyes.

"Is this funny to you? Forgetting my image as a gym leader for a second, but to go as far as to sabotage my relationship. Just so you could have some fun with me?" Underneath the table, Raihan’s leg was bouncing, his irritation bubbling up.

"I don't even understand why you're with them anyway. Sure, they’re a strong trainer, but they're so plain and uninteresting. You sure you aren't just using them to get off?" Daeva challenged, her smirk widening.

A hand slammed down on the table, gathering the attention of a couple patrons and the cafe owner. Ignoring their confused and startled glances, the dragon tamer took a minute to collect himself.

"I might've let you pull one over one me, but I will not have you talking shit about my significant other." Raihan growled lowly. He peeked at his Rotomphone, acting as if he was checking the time. The recording was still going.

"Alright, one last question." The man shoved the phone back into his pocket. "How’d you do it? What did you do to me that made me lose my memories?”

"My pokemon, of course. Did you forget that I was a Psychic type user?"

In the back of his mind, he could vaguely remember seeing the girl’s Oranguru for a brief moment back at the gym. Suddenly everything made sense.

“I'm guessing that you've never heard of the move ‘Instruct’?” She watched the man across from her paused to think. “Well, as a dragon tamer, that's understandable. It's ok, most people haven't. Only Oranguru can learn that move. You pretty much know what happened after that."

Daeva pulled out her own phone to check the time. Sliding it back into her pocket, she got up and scooted out of the booth.

"As much as I'd like to keep this lovely chat going, I have somewhere to be soon. Let me know if you ever want to have some more fun~" She watched as Raihan glared at her while making her exit.

Raihan didn't care that she was leaving, he’d gotten all the information he needed. After stopping the recording and saving it, the man sent you a text, asking you to tell Kabu to meet you two at your flat. Heading out the door of the café, he released Flygon from it’s ball and took to the skies towards Motostoke. By the time he touched down in front of your place, you and Kabu were already waiting inside.

Sitting down across from you two, he told his Rotomphome to start playing the lengthy recording for them. Raihan watched as you and Kabu both cringed hearing him be all flirty with Daeva in the beginning. But once they heard the convo switch over to the jig being up, you all silently listened to everything.

Once the recording had stopped, the air was filled with complete silence. The dragon tamer looked over at Kabu. The man didn't show his emotions too often, but he could clearly see anger in his face. Moving his gaze over to you, he saw pure rage roiling in your eyes.

To say that you were upset was an understatement. Finding out that Daeva caused you all that heartbreak, pain and grief, all because she wanted a night of fun with your boyfriend. You wanted nothing more than to punch her right in that makeup-caked face of hers. You knew that wouldn't solve anything, but it’d sure make you feel better.

"Well now that we have some solid evidence against her, what now?" You asked.

"We can take this to the police." Kabu retorted. The fire leader paused for a moment, eyes widening in thought. "We should report this to the Chairman as well."

Raihan nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Rose wouldn't want someone using their pokemon like this participating in the Gym Challenge."

Since your boyfriend was the main victim, he would make the trip to league headquarters and talk to Rose himself. Kabu would go along with him as a witness of sorts.

Raihan proceeded to try to contact the chairman, but only got through to Oleana, who said he was currently out of the office. The man explained that he needed to meet with Rose about a challenger. Usually Oleana would say something about having to put in an official request. However, after hearing how urgent he sounded, she would squeeze in a meeting with him tomorrow morning.

The dragon leader also mentioned filing a police report, but Oleana said to hold off until hearing what he had to say. For now, she told him and any witnesses to be on time and wished him a good evening. The secretary hung up rather quickly, most likely because she was extremely busy, but Raihan didn't mind it too much. He was just glad something was going to be done about the situation.

With nothing to do but wait, you all went your separate ways. Well, Kabu went back to his own home. Raihan was still feeling unsure about being around you. Even though he hadn't been behind this whole scheme, he felt as if he didn't deserve to be alone with you. He was attempting to make an exit when you quickly pulled him into an embrace.

You could tell that there was something off about him. But for now, you wanted to at least try and reassure him that there was no anger towards him. Sure, you may have been angry with him at first, but knowing he wasn't the one who initiated this, you couldn't be mad at him. You wanted him to know that you still loved him dearly.

It took a bit of convincing, but he agreed to stay the night with you. Neither of you said it out loud, but it was clear that you both needed each other. Just wanted to enjoy being in the other's company again. While Raihan was off taking a shower, you made a quick, easy meal for dinner.

After dinner, the two of you put on a movie. Neither of you were really watching it. You were laying against Raihan, head in his lap. Both of you were playing some kind of new raid battle game. Having shared your game ID's, the two of you could play together.

Just after destroying all the enemies and claiming victory, Raihan began relieving a video call. It was from Leon. Nodding at him to answer it, you closed your game to scroll through social media. Raihan's room phone flew up into the air and answered the call.

"Hey, mate."

"Hey. Just wanted to check in on you. Haven't heard from you in a few days."

"Everything is fine. Just been a little busy." His gaze shifted down towards you, his Rotom panning the screen down towards you.

"Oh! Hey (Y/N)! "Leon exclaimed, glad to see you by his rival's side again.

You turned your head to the floating device and flashed a smile at Leon. "Yo!"

He motioned for the Rotom to focus on him again. "I'm glad you called actually. There's something that I need to tell ya."

Raihan began to explain to Leon that he was going to see Rose in the morning to discuss what had happened. The champion nodded, saying that if he finished his interviews in time, he would meet him there as support. He could also vouch for him as he was the one to contact him the morning after everything.

The two men kept chatting for a while longer. You had nodded off, head in your boyfriend’s lap. As they talked, Leon kept noticing Raihan staring off in space very once in a while. He also noticed that the other was rubbing at his neck quite a bit. A habit Leon recognized from their younger trainer years. Whenever the dragon tamer was going through something stressful, he would rub and his neck repeatedly for long periods of time.

The champion didn't call him out on it though. He'd just talk to him tomorrow after

the meeting with Rose.

Eventually Leon looked at the time, saying that he needed to head to bed soon. Raihan agreed as he glanced down at your sleeping face. The two wished each other a good night and ended the phone call.

Your boyfriend picked you up and carefully carried you to your room. He took the phone from your hands, placing it on the bedside table next to his that was already in rest mode. Climbing into bed next Raihan pulled you close to him. It was the first time since the whole incident started that he'd slept next to you. Just having you in his arms again made him feel at peace.

—

The next morning, the two of you were up bright and early. You made a quick breakfast before getting ready to head off to Wyndon. Thankfully you had managed to find one of his gym uniforms for him to wear. You just put on a regular outfit, since only the gym leaders would be in the meeting.

After joining up with Kabu, the three of you caught a Corviknight Taxi to the metropolis city. The steel raven and it’s Cabbie touched down in front of the steps of Headquarters. Oleana was already outside waiting. She greeted everyone, telling them to follow her up to where Rose was.

Once up to the top floor, Oleana brought everyone to a meeting room where the chairman was already waiting. A staff member directed you to a lounge area just down the hall to wait. As you made yourself comfortable in the expensive chair, you saw Leon come running down the hall. The champion stopped in front of the door, taking a moment to catch his breath and smooth himself out before knocking and entering.

After shuffling through social media apps, playing a few solo raids and nearly nodding off a couple times, the door finally opened an hour later. Everyone filed out of the room. First Rose, with an exasperated look on his face. Of course he was followed by Oleana, who shared the same expression. Finally Kabu, Raihan, and Leon all exited. Kabu said something to the other two men before walking away. Raihan and Leon headed in your direction.

"How did it go?" You asked.

"Rose is going to take care of things with her. He didn't exactly say what, but he’ll handle the situation." Raihan explained.

"He said to give him a couple days." Leon chimed in. "But for now, we can head over to my place. My schedule is free for the rest of the day."

The three of you went over to Leon's complex. It wasn't far from the League HQ. Leon led you through the back alleys to avoid being seen on the streets. He knew if he walked along the city streets that he'd get surrounded by a plethora of fans.

Once in his complex, which was a luxurious penthouse on the top floor of the building. The champion told you two to make yourselves at home while fetching some drinks. You and Raihan got comfortable together on the huge leather couch. Leon handed both of you some drinks before sitting adjacent in the matching armchair.

"I was going to wait until later to say this..." Leon sat his cup down on the coffee table. "But I think it's best to bring it up now."

The dragon leader quirked an eyebrow up at his rival. "What's up, Lee?"

"Listen, ever since I talked to you that day after this mess happened, you've been acting weird."

"Huh? What are you talking about, mate?" Raihan chuckled, looking up from his phone.

Leon didn't miss the way his friend's eyes widened for a split second behind the screen.

You looked over at your boyfriend, raising an eyebrow of your own. "Rai?" While you’d noticed Raihan acting funny, clearly Lee had seen something you'd missed.

“Seriously. I don't know what he's talking about (Y/N)." Without thinking, Raihan raised his hand to rub at his neck.

"That right there. You're doing that bad habit of yours."

Raihan froze, instantly realizing what his friend was talking about. Now you had your eyes on him too. Dropping his arm to rest in his lap, he let out a small sigh. "Alright, you got me."

A sigh of relief came from Leon as well, glad that Raihan wasn't going to be stubborn

about this. "It's clear that you've been acting odd. Something tells me you haven't been the same since you found out what that trainer did to you."

"You're right. Things haven't been the same."

Grabbing Raihan's hand, you fully turned to face him to show that you were ready to hear what he had to say.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the man began to talk. He explained that he wasn't feeling ok; that he  _ wasn't _ ok. Having someone take advantage of him both mentally and physically had taken quite the toll on him. If he was being honest, his mental state wasn't doing well.

Lee suggested that maybe he should talk to someone. At first, Raihan was quick to dismiss the idea. However, he backpedaled on his decision, thinking that maybe seeking professional help wouldn’t hurt. The champion was quick to refer him to a few therapists that he goes to when champion duties become too heavy. Raihan thanked his friend, oddly feeling a bit better about things now.

Eventually you and Raihan decide to let Leon be on his own for the evening. Bidding him a good night, the both of you exited the complex. Figuring that it’d be a good idea to have dinner before going home, Raihan took you out to eat at a nice place. Once your stomachs were full of delicious food, you headed back to your place.

\---

The next morning was just the same as the one before. You were up making breakfast, the delicious aroma of it waking Raihan up. As your boyfriend took a seat at the table, you told your Rotomphone to turn on the telly and put the news channel on, mainly for background noise.

Raihan scrolled through the lockscreen of his phone, checking through the mass of notifications when he saw that the gym leader group chat was quite active this morning. Opening the app, he was greeted with Piers sending a few chunks of text. That was a rare sight, considering Piers was barely active in the group message. Scrolling back up to read through what he missed, he let out a loud gasp.

You threw a confused glance over at him as you set his plate of food down in front of him. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the gym leader chat. Piers said that a challenger was taken away by some officers mid-match.”

“What?” At first you were confused, but then it hit you. “Think it was her?”

“Piers didn’t name the challenger, but he did say it was a girl. So fairly likely.” Raihan chalked up the secrecy to Rose and the police. For all he knew, the dark-type leader was probably told not to mention it to anyone, other leaders included.

Raihan kept reading what some of the others were saying out loud through mouthfuls of food. Kabu was seen making a comment, but nothing too major. Raihan also input a little something of his own, adding a few comments before going to lurk in the background of the mass of messages.

Within the next week after the meeting with Rose, everything was back to normal. You finally went back to work at Kabu’s gym. The older man insisted that you didn’t need to rush back since it wasn’t that busy, but you’d feel bad if you missed any more days.

Raihan also went back to his gym. He’d taken a couple extra days off to contact a therapist and meet with them. For now, he would have a weekly session to meet with the same therapist that Leon recommended. On the days that he had appointments, Kabu would let you take the day off to be with your boyfriend for support.

It was during those sessions that you fully learned how everything had truly affected Raihan. He’d become a little paranoid. He felt like he always needed someone to be with him or watch his back. Psychic pokemon or moves kind of made him a little skittish. Nights that he spent without you, he didn’t get much sleep. Or if he did, it wasn’t restful sleep; lots of tossing and turning. It was easy to tell that some degree of anxiety had developed.

As for Daeva, she had gotten the shock of her life. It was in fact her that was taken away by police during her rematch with Piers. The same day, she was escorted to Wyndon to see Rose, who explained that he was aware of her actions against a member of the Galar Pokemon League. The Chairman then informed her that she was immediately suspended and banned from the Gym Challenge. Daeva was to serve a minimum of six months, along with a year of probation.

The girl was lucky, Raihan had some influence on her sentence, dubbing it down from two years in jail. Sure, what she did was wrong, but he was sure that getting banned and spending some time in jail was enough punishment. There was also a restraining order against her for you and Raihan. If she came anywhere near either of you, she would easily be back behind bars.

Of course the word was quickly spread around from other challengers, which in turn made its way to the ears of gym trainers and leaders. Of course Chika and Ella brought it up to you and Darren, but mainly you because of a certain encounter way back then. They secretly knew that you were involved somehow but didn’t pry you for any information.

Over the next coming weeks, Raihan was doing a lot better. Talking to the therapist about his emotions and feelings really helped let things out. Due to the anxiety, he was prescribed medication to help with that. Whenever the dragon tamer felt uneasy, he was to take a small dosage to help calm him. You made sure to check up on him on each break while at work. He even set his Rotomphone to watch for signs of an oncoming attack so he could move to a safe place to calm down.

After everything you two had been through, nothing was going to tear you apart ever again. If anything, this made your relationship stronger than ever. 

You two were going to stand by each other’s side, even through the wildest of sandstorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this little story and thanks for sticking through to the end. Feel free to leave any comments!


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